Description
The scarlet reef hermit, Paguristes cadenati, also know as red legs are probably the most colorful of the small hermits found in the Caribbean and is highly sought after for its algae cleaning abilities. These bright red crabs are most often found along the reef, down in the cracks of coral heads by day and browsing all over the reef by night. They are generally considered reef safe and like most hermit crabs they are scavengers, so not only will they eat unwanted algae, they will eat left over bits of food that fall to the bottom.
fishnshrimps (verified owner) –
Lively and active. These guys prefer heavier shells, particularly once they get a little bigger- you can look them up online to see the shape they like. Timid compared to other hermits, so best not mixed.
Tyler Matheny –
Amazing cleaning hermit. I ordered 3 of these babys and they went right out and started cleaning up in the rocks. They have heavy coraline on there shells and I love it.
michael mattox –
Wonderful hermits. Always come with heavily worn and coralline covered shells, so you know they are not at all aggressive. They get larger than the blue hermits or the orange hermits. However these 2 things can be a problem if you keep any of the pacific hermit crabs, like the black and white zebras from IPSF. Since the scarlets are timid the pacific hermits will kick them out of their shells and kill them. So be careful when mixing atlantic and pacific hermits. Other wise these guys are colorful, active, and do a wonderful job cleaning your tank. In my opinion these guys are overpriced everywhere (have been for years) most likely due to the bright coloration, although Ken does have the best price around. Get a few for added color and save some $$ and get the rest of your crab cleanup crew with a mixture of blues and oranges.
Christopher Sanchez –
These were a great hermit. I acquired the red, orange (rare offer) and the blue. I got rid of the red and blue because I wated to cut my hermit population down and decided to keep only the orange ones. Overall an excellent hermit and I highly recommend. – Chris
Richard Peterson –
More active at night, really bright color of red great addition to tank!